PHP and MySQL: Export a Question to a Tab Delimited or CSV File

This weekend, I needed to construct a PHP web page that might again up any MySQL question or desk right into a Tab Delimited file. Many of the examples out on the web have the columns hard-coded.

In my case, I needed the columns to be dynamic, so I needed to first loop by way of all of the desk subject names to construct the header row with column names after which loop by way of all of the information for the remaining knowledge rows. I additionally set the header in order that the browser will provoke the file obtain within the filetype (txt) with the title of the file date and timestamped.

Tab Delimited Export From MySQL in PHP

<?php
$right now = date("YmdHi");
header("Content material-type: utility/octet-stream");
header("Content material-Disposition: attachment; filename="".$right now."_Backup.txt"");
$conn = new mysqli("hostname", "username", "password", "database_name"); // Change together with your database credentials

if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

$question = "SELECT * FROM `mytable` ORDER BY `myorder`";
$consequence = $conn->question($question);

if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    $fields = $result->fetch_fields();
    
    // Put together the header row
    $header = [];
    foreach ($fields as $subject) {
        $header[] = $field->title;
    }
    $knowledge = implode("t", $header) . "n";

    // Fetch and course of the information rows
    whereas ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        $rowValues = [];
        foreach ($fields as $subject) {
            $rowValues[] = $row[$field->name];
        }
        $knowledge .= implode("t", $rowValues) . "n";
    }

    // Output the information
    echo $knowledge;
} else {
    echo "No knowledge discovered";
}

// Shut the database connection
$conn->shut();
?>

Let’s stroll by way of the code step-by-step with explanations for every half:

<?php
// Get the present date and time in a selected format
$right now = date("YmdHi");

// Set HTTP headers for file obtain
header("Content material-type: utility/octet-stream");
header("Content material-Disposition: attachment; filename="".$right now."_Backup.txt"");

// Create a MySQL database connection
$conn = new mysqli("hostname", "username", "password", "database_name"); // Change together with your database credentials

// Examine if the database connection was profitable
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

• We generate the present date and time within the “YmdHi” format and retailer it within the $right now variable.
• HTTP headers are set to specify that the content material must be handled as an octet-stream (binary knowledge) and set off a file obtain with the required filename.
• Utilizing the extension, we create a MySQL database connection, changing placeholders together with your precise database credentials.
• We test if the database connection was profitable. We terminate the script and show an error message if there’s an error.

// Outline the SQL question to pick out knowledge from the `mytable` desk
$question = "SELECT * FROM `mytable` ORDER BY `myorder`";

// Execute the SQL question
$consequence = $conn->question($question);

// Examine if there are any rows returned
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // Fetch the sphere (column) names
    $fields = $result->fetch_fields();

    // Put together the header row for the export file
    $header = [];
    foreach ($fields as $subject) {
        $header[] = $field->title;
    }
    $knowledge = implode("t", $header) . "n";

• We outline the SQL question to pick out all knowledge from the mytable desk, ordering it by the myorder column.
• The question is executed, and the result’s saved within the $consequence variable.
• We test if there are any rows returned by analyzing the num_rows property of the consequence object.
• We use fetch_fields() to retrieve the sphere (column) names and retailer them within the $fields array.
• The header row for the export file is ready by looping by way of the sphere names and concatenating them with tabs.

    // Fetch and course of the information rows
    whereas ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        $rowValues = [];
        foreach ($fields as $subject) {
            $rowValues[] = $row[$field->name];
        }
        $knowledge .= implode("t", $rowValues) . "n";
    }

• We use a whereas loop to fetch every knowledge row from the consequence set utilizing fetch_assoc().
• Contained in the loop, we put together the values of every row by iterating by way of the fields and amassing the corresponding knowledge.
• The values for every row are concatenated with tabs to create a tab-delimited row, and this row is added to the $knowledge variable.

    // Output the information to the browser
    echo $knowledge;
} else {
    // If no knowledge is discovered, show a message
    echo "No knowledge discovered";
}

// Shut the MySQL database connection
$conn->shut();
?>

• If there may be knowledge discovered (checked with num_rows), we echo the concatenated knowledge, which is the content material of the export file. This triggers the file obtain within the consumer’s browser.
• If no knowledge is discovered, we show a message indicating that no knowledge is on the market.
• We shut the MySQL database connection utilizing $conn->shut() to launch assets.

This code effectively exports knowledge from a MySQL database desk right into a tab-delimited textual content file and handles varied situations, akin to database connection errors and empty consequence units.

Comma-Separated Values Export From MySQL in PHP

I can modify the code to export knowledge as a CSV file. Right here’s the code, up to date for CSV export:

<?php
// Get the present date and time in a selected format
$right now = date("YmdHi");

// Set HTTP headers for file obtain
header("Content material-type: textual content/csv");
header("Content material-Disposition: attachment; filename="".$right now."_Backup.csv"");

// Create a MySQL database connection
$conn = new mysqli("hostname", "username", "password", "database_name"); // Change together with your database credentials

// Examine if the database connection was profitable
if ($conn->connect_error) {
    die("Connection failed: " . $conn->connect_error);
}

// Outline the SQL question to pick out knowledge from the `mytable` desk
$question = "SELECT * FROM `mytable` ORDER BY `myorder`";

// Execute the SQL question
$consequence = $conn->question($question);

// Examine if there are any rows returned
if ($result->num_rows > 0) {
    // Put together the output file deal with for writing
    $output = fopen('php://output', 'w');

    // Fetch and course of the information rows
    whereas ($row = $result->fetch_assoc()) {
        // Output every row as a CSV line
        fputcsv($output, $row);
    }

    // Shut the output file deal with
    fclose($output);
} else {
    // If no knowledge is discovered, show a message
    echo "No knowledge discovered";
}

// Shut the MySQL database connection
$conn->shut();
?>

On this modified code:

• The headers for the HTTP response are up to date to specify a textual content/csv content material sort, and the filename has the “.csv” extension.
• As an alternative of manually creating the CSV content material, we use the fputcsv perform to output every row from the MySQL consequence set as a CSV line. This perform handles the CSV formatting for you, together with dealing with particular characters and enclosing fields in double quotes when crucial.
• We open the output file deal with utilizing fopen with ‘php://output’ because the file title. This enables us to jot down on to the HTTP response output stream.
• The code is structured to deal with CSV export effectively and closes the file deal with when accomplished.

This code will export the information from the MySQL desk as a CSV file, making it simple for customers to open and work with in spreadsheet functions like Excel. Don’t neglect to switch the database credentials with your individual.